


its sculptor well these passions read

by handschuhmaus



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Family History, Fluff, Gen, I haven't written nor read these two in forever, Not Canon Compliant, but plot ysalamir, fanon family history that is, that also contains a hint of sickfic, this one is dedicated to Blackboard Monitor His Grace Sir Samuel Vimes, this was silly, who disbelieves in easy clues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-23
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2019-03-23 08:02:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13783236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/handschuhmaus/pseuds/handschuhmaus
Summary: Captain Pellaeon happens upon two items in Thrawn's collection and wonders about their significance.





	its sculptor well these passions read

**Author's Note:**

> the title is a line from Shelley's "Ozymandias", although it has little connection with the topics here.

Pellaeon _wanted_ to know what the two items were, lying innocently on a table in the admiral's quarters. Where, it was true, he didn't belong. But Thrawn was ill (a transient but debilitating virus) and had bade the captain meet with him in his quarters first thing in the morning. It had only seemed the better part of prudence to avoid waking him from a deep sleep for the moment.

The captain didn't touch the objects; surely they were art of some sort, but he couldn't help looking at them intently. The one was made of silvery metal and decorated, but seemed relatively mundane, aside from its strange shape. The other was a cheery and fashionable orange. It looked like some sort of polymer material, and it had many strange symbols and lines along parts of it, resembling an old fashioned measuring stick--except the longer lines and symbols were distributed not at all evenly.

It began to occur to Pellaeon that it might be some sort of primitive calculating device; after all, log scales distributed numbers in that sort of way. And the strange shape of the other--it could be a sort of eating utensil perhaps? Surely Thrawn didn't use these sort of things...but they weren't really art, either.

Perhaps, as was so often the case, they were from a civilization he was studying, one he wanted to get inside the mind of. Why should he want their calculating devices and their spork-knife combinations, though? Unless they made no art, or all of it was destroyed...

"Captain," Thrawn's voice was hoarser than usual and the admiral looked worn.

"Oh. Admiral," Pellaeon stood to attention. "I was just looking at these two, ah, objects." It would seem a bit silly if he said they were art but they were actually Thrawn's personal items and not intended to be art.

"Yes? Let me get some caff, Pellaeon, and I shall be better able to talk."

He stood there awkwardly while the Chiss went over to the drink dispenser and retrieved a steaming mug.

"Those, yes, I am sorry, Gilad, they are not an opportunity for me to explain my methods, for they are mine, given me by my parents. And they are practical objects of sentimental value, not created as art."

"Ah. So--your mother sent utensils along with you do that you'd always be able to eat, and your father wanted you to be able to do calculations even in case of a computer outage," even as he made the flippant comment, Gilad wished he had stopped himself. Referring to Thrawn's parents, really? He'd always had a tendency to say unwise things.

Thrawn chuckled. "No, almost entirely backward."

Gilad's tongue forged ahead before his brain could properly veto the joke, "So the orange thing is for preparing food and the knife thing for doing maths?"

And this actually made the Chiss laugh, although that in turn caused him to cough. "No, no. The sliderule, I think is your word, though an ancient one, was my mother's, because she often worked at sites with water or lava or intense fields that endangered electrical devices. She gave me this one when I joined the CEDF, because it got slightly damaged and doesn't slide well, although it still functions. And yes, she thought I might have cause to do calculations under dire conditions, but it was also a way of remembering her." He picked up the sliderule in the hand that wasn't holding his mug and turned it over, revealing some characters Pellaeon couldn't read. 

"And the ah, for lack of a better word, multi-utensil. My father designed these with the help of his children and had them cast after a frustrating experience with a similar but less functional design. The patterning is from an engraving my mother did, one of her favorites. As he had no experience relevant to manufacture, they still have a few drawbacks, but indeed, as you surmised, I have both a multipurpose eating utensil in case of circumstances too severe for other flatware and a way of remembering them. You cannot always draw on your own cultural expectations of gender roles, Gilad."

And even though that remark was intended as a point for him to learn, Gilad actually was spending a moment trying to imagine Thrawn's family, trying to imagine the Admiral as a small boy.

"Captain Pellaeon? I know I just encouraged it, but I cannot allow you to dwell on reflections today. About the meeting I wished to have--"

**Author's Note:**

> ~~canon what canon and or legends material that history is 99*% pure fanon~~
> 
> *not really


End file.
